COVID-19 pandemic has turned the whole world upside down. No business is untouched by the current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic, which means most businesses are rethinking their approach to marketing and sales. It's undoubtedly true that the coming weeks, or months – or however long this situation lasts – will be a challenging time for any company that isn't ready to think about how they will replace the opportunities that have been lost.
In this post, we'll cover what we know about the current state of the consumer behaviour, some short-term strategies to follow right now, and some long-term guidelines that you can start planning out for when things calm down and get back to normal. This pandemic will continue to leave lasting impacts across the digital marketing world. Even though the world is in quarantine and almost everybody is at home, it's essential to keep in touch with your customers or otherwise; you'll lose them.
Even if you are closed pertaining to safety norms or the lockdown situation, there are ways to keep serving your customers during the coronavirus outbreak. Employing digital marketing, you can streamline your online marketing efforts to retain clients and customers.
If you want to gear-up your business going forward post-pandemic situation, here are some tips for retaining customer base amid the outbreak.
Automate Marketing Response: Plan out a COVID-19 response email along with the follow-up emails to let your customers and clients know that you are there and working as usual, but remotely. Give them a feeling that you care for their safety and well-being. Marketing automation is one of the easiest and affordable ways to keep in touch with your clients and customers. Automating your marketing efforts ensures that you get the job done. With it, you can touch bases and set up a dialogue with as many customers as you want to. If your store is closing, notify your customers on your social media channels, through email, and on your website. If your store is staying open, describe the steps you're taking to mitigate risk.
Plan Out Your Content Calendar: Content is king now, more than ever. Your audience is being forced to stay home and maintain social distancing. Due to this lockdown situation, people have more time to invest in content, be it visual or textual. Therefore, you, as a business owner or a digital marketer, should aim to produce informative and valuable content that's beneficial for your target audience. Build a content calendar and develop content that indulges your audience in business interaction. Here are a few pointers for your content development strategy:
- If your clients are businesses, then creating content that focuses on how to resume a business from home, or they can adapt digital strategies to sustain the pandemic, or what tools or software can help them create a remote working environment etc.
- Create content that assists brands in generating revenue in these difficult times
- Come up with marketing strategies help your customers and encourage them to enter the online market 9if possible).
- Update the old & evergreen content pages with new keywords, CTAs, and information pieces, and repurpose them.
Leverage Social Media as Customer Engagement Platform: Your target audience is at home, spending more time online. A social media platform where your target audience spends time is the best place to engage them. For example, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., are platforms where your customers are most comfortable. They interact with brands directly. They review products, like & share products/services, discuss buying decisions, express opinions, share their experience, etc. Create a social media strategy to reach out to your target customers on every platform where they can possibly be. The goal should be to create valuable content that helps in establishing a long-lasting relationship with your customers.
Adopt Digital Medium to Continue Business Operation: Take your business operation online – it’s time you follow suit. Adopt digital strategies for your business operation. For example,
- If you are a gym instructor or a personal trainer, you can go online. Think of alternative training methods in light of COVID-19. If you cannot go out at the gym or the training studio, conduct classes online.
- Similarly, teachers, administrators, and students can successfully spin up virtual classrooms; participate in online courses for distance education.
- A local restaurant owner can come up with an online delivery option to save substantial fees on third party carriers.
- Likewise, a retail brick and mortar shop can create an eCommerce website to shift focus on online sales.
Communicate Proactively with Your Customers: The COVID-19 outbreak has been hard on everyone. The situation is evolving rapidly. Update your customers on how COVID-19 has affected your business. No one is sure of how the next day would be and what news would come in. Your existing customers are aware of the situation and can empathize with businesses facing a crisis, as long as you communicate with them properly. The message can be sent via emails, social media posts, or video messages. Let your customers know your course of action. For example, inform your customers if there are any changes to your services - if your stores/shops are closed, or if there is any change in the operating hours, and what protective measures you are taking to keep your employees & workplace safe and clean.
Going digital during this crisis will save businesses a lot of money, which is usually spent on marketing, branding & advertising. Investing in digital marketing can help keep your business afloat during this trying time. You can leverage digital technologies and software to improve your marketing strategies and strengthen your online presence.
